Didn't Make It In Time
by fall3ndragon6742
Summary: Hiro goes bot fighting and doesn't get rescued by Tadashi. How does the story unfold that way? Warning: lots of violence and fangirl emotions, some content may be frightening...
1. The Struggle

Hiro woke up to the sound of his phone's alarm. Muted under his pillow, the teen quick pressed it off and jumped out of bed. He was in his clothes even though he had just been sleeping and it was around ten p.m. Hiro grabbed his bot and ran downstairs quietly. He knew the way to the bot fight because it was close to the Hamada's cafe/house. Hiro was there quickly. He signed in with the secretary and stood in line. Surrounded by nearly adults, and he himself being a runty freshman age boy, Hiro shrank smaller in his hoodie. If Tadashi or Aunt Cass knew, heck, if anyone knew, he could be grounded or even in jail. But bot fighting got him a thrill. He could see the lust and anger in their eyes, the triumphant gleam crushed to dust. It made him feel better, especially after last year's "White-Out Incident". Hiro involuntarily wrapped his arms tighter in front of his stomach like he was still having the stomach aches. Hiro forced the thoughts back into a corner of his racing mind. He could only look to the future with an expectant heart.

"Next," a voice called. Hiro blinked, looking up. He was after this next person. He couldn't believe it.

"Yama." Hiro hissed.

The thug had a reputation for beating everyone. Hiro wasn't going to use his usual approach, as he would probably get kicked out. He watched the person in front of him get ripped apart. The bits stood in the ring.

"Go Deathblade!" The guy yelled. Yama laughed sarcastically. Yama's bot pulled out a saw and chopped "Deathblade" into halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds, sixty-fourths, one hundred twenty eighths, and so small that Hiro's brain couldn't calculate fast enough to tell how tiny the pieces got. The man handed over his money quietly.

"Next!" Yama roared.

"I'm here." Hiro said, stepping out.

Yama laughed. "Back again, fool?"

"I can fight if I want to." Hiro said softly and sat down and whispered, "Megabot, destroy."

Yama's bot pulled out the famous saw, but Megabot split apart and began to hit Yama's bot from all sides. Yama's bot accidentally sawed off one of its own legs and fell. Megabot contorted to ripping the rest of Yama's bot to pieces by jamming itself between joints and calling its fellow microbots to join.

Hiro had won. He took the money from the plate and turned to Yama.

"Pleasure to fight with you." Hiro said politely to Yama.

"Oh the fight isn't over yet little boy. No one beats Yama."

"I thought you were Yama," Hiro said snarkily.

"I am!" Yama thundered. "I AM YAMA!"

"Well, Yama needs to stop talking about himself in 3rd person." Hiro said, turning around and walking away from the alley. Yama growled.

"He won't leave here without learning a lesson." Yama hissed. Hiro began to run, but he was smaller than those angry bot fighters who dragged him back to Yama.

"Takashi! Danny!" Yama called. "Put this punk out of action and leave me to deal with him later."

"Dude, that's a kid."

"No, he's just short for his age."

"Sorry kid," Danny said as Yama walked away, and Hiro's eyes widened with fear.

"I should've told Tadashi! I'm not going to-" Danny whacked Hiro on the head with the secretary's metal foldable chair. He remained upright fire a moment in Takashi's grip before they dropped his seemingly lifeless body to the floor and pushed him into a corner of the alley.


	2. Too Late

A/N: sorry not sorry for writing this chapter xD

Tadashi woke up around 12 am. "That's it!" He yelled through tears and cold sweat. "I'm never dreaming again!"

Aunt Cass ran down the hall.

"Tadashi? Hiro? Are you two okay?" Aunt Cass asked.

"I'm okay, just a really bad dream."

"Where's Hiro?"

"Hiro?"

Tadashi bolted upright. He looked at the computer. "He's bot fighting."

"That's illegal!" Aunt Cass shrieked.

"He doesn't care." Tadashi buried his face in his hands. He looked up. "Hiro could be in danger. The bot fight was at 10. It's 12 now."

Aunt Cass shuddered. "I'll call the police."

(Too late)

Hiro's vision was extremely blurry and he felt like his head went through a blender. He couldn't really move, and his eyes were half open. He saw Takashi and Danny walk by, then Yama. He felt himself lifted off the floor. His eyes snapped open.

"Let me go." Hiro managed to croak.

Yama did. Hiro collapsed on the asphalt like a broken bot. Hiro tired to pull himself back up using the wall he was pressed against, but it was no use. Yama laughed.

"What's your problem?" Hiro said, finding his voice. "I'm just a kid. I'm 14."

Takashi and Danny backed up. "I told you he was a kid. I'm leavin'."

"No, you are NOT!" Yama roares, but they were gone. Yama growled, pulling Hiro up by his neck, pinning him to the wall. Hiro gasped for air, his feet off the ground and dangling in the air. He managed to kick Yama in the stomach, fall out of his grip, and run. His head was pounding, and he was sure his neck would be bruised.

Aunt Cass can't know.

Hiro looked down at Megabot, lying in his sweatshirt's pocket.

Can't find out.

A rough hand pulled on Hiro's hood to his sweatshirt. Hiro pulled away, trying to run faster. Something in the darkness rolled into his path, and tripped, sprawling. The others tripped too. Hiro got up and ran, ignoring the extreme pain in his chest after he had landed. Hiro then tripped on his own shoelace. He slipped in water and crashed backwards. Stunned and new pain bursting from his head, he lay for a moment. He heard Yama get closer, and he ran further. He ran through the bushes once the street ended. They were covered in thorns, huge spiny thorns that tore at Hiro's arms and legs. A particularly large thorn ripped into his forearm with messy haste. Hiro screamed as he ran, fueled by the pain. He tripped further through the bushes, emerging on a pier. A truck whizzed past. Hiro figured by now they were just chasing him to prove that they could outsmart or finally catch him, but he didn't want to stop running. He was scared of the amount of power they had.

"Move kid!" Someone shoved him. His bloody arm hit something hard in the dark, around his shoulder, and his arm went limp.

Dislocated. Hiro bit his lip, drawing more blood. Dang it! I need to get away before I'm killed! Ugh, why didn't I talk to Tadashi?

One of the thugs crept up to Hiro. "Boo." He whispered, thinking he was all clever and funny. Hiro shrieked, and he rushed forward, running through the dark. A truck dodged to avoid him. Commotion erupted in the pier.

"Kid, get outta here!"

"What does he think he's doing?"

"Get lost!"

"Somebody help me!"

Hiro moved towards the bright light he saw, hoping it was someone with a huge flashlight. He was so disoriented and scared he couldn't think straight.

"Move!"

Takashi suddenly burst out and shoved Hiro. A huge truck barreled past, and Hiro gasped. Takashi had saved him.

More commotion burst out. One of Yama's thugs grabbed Hiro in the mess and shoved him behind an abandoned guard shack. Weak and confused, Hiro couldn't struggle.

The pain seemed infinite. Hiro quivered under their blows, trying to get away. He was almost free at one point, but someone pulled him back by the edge of his shorts. There was a short freedom, when Takashi and Danny started fighting the thugs. Hiro managed to crawl away. He sat for a while. Blood and tears mixed and dripped on the wooden pier. Hiro pulled himself up and stumbled blindly forward. He was shoved, and he tripped, smacking his leg into a metal rowboat.

Snap.

Hiro lost his balance because of his freshly broken leg and tumbled forward, hitting the icy water and sinking down...

Hiro's vision slowly dimmed to a familiar hand reaching for his.

Tadashi-


	3. The Escapee

Aunt Cass sat in the police car with Tadashi. They wouldn't let her see Hiro yet, for fear she'd go into shock. Tadashi knew his condition was critical. He could still see Hiro's limp body carried to the stretcher. Tadashi shivered, wrapped in no less than 40 blankets. He was only wearing his boxers, since the water had soaked through his clothes.

Tadashi shook his head. "I'm an idiot."

"Tadashi, sweetie-"

"I let him go."

"No you didn't."

"I didn't stop him."

"You couldn't."

"I wanted-"

"Tadashi, you saved your brother's life." Aunt Cass said, wiping tears from Tadashi's face. "You are just like your father."

Tadashi tried to smile.

Hiro woke up strapped to one of those rolling hospital beds... what were they called? Stretchers? He was too scared to care. Not again, please. Not ever again. He thought. All the pain was returning, and he muffled a shriek by biting his lip. Sounds disoriented his low functioning brain.

"Shh, shh." Someone said quietly.

"Hiro, you're alright."

Someone blurry stood in front of him. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Hiro looked, confused. "Twelve, but I don't know how. Are you that 6 fingered man from 'The Princess Bride'?"

"Look at me, please." Hiro heard. A light was shone into his eyes. He stared at it, frozen and tired. "Where are you? I only see the light. It's fading, you should put more batteries in. How'd you know my name? I'm hungry."

"He's got hypothermia and I think he's passing out. Possibly a concussion too." Somebody said.

"Who?" Hiro asked, trying to sit up but only succeeding in getting pushed down again. "I wanna go to the petting zoo!"

"He's getting delirious from the pain."

"I lost my money."

"No, it's here."

"No she's not. She's dead."

"Oh, he said mommy."

"My name is Tadashi."

"Where is that anesthesia?"

"He's going crazy, hurry up!" Hiro was so confused, and began to strain against the doctor's arm.

"I'm having a panic attack!"

"No, you aren't. You're hurt and need to relax. Calm down."

Hiro could only see swirls of color, and hear distorted voices. He felt as though this was what it was like to be high, confusing and slightly hilarious.

Then he felt a sharp prick in his arm and he was asleep.

When Hiro woke up again, he was in the hospital. Hospital. Stomach ache. The lights, the party, the bathroom-

Hiro looked around panicking. He felt his heart rate speed up. He couldn't be there again. Not the hospital, not the incident, no none of that, please...

"Hiro, calm down. Take it easy. You feel of the pier." A nurse was there nearly instantly.

Last night flooded back to Hiro's brain. At once he burst into tears. They had found out. He was beaten. He was done. He'd lost, and the thing to keep his mind off the hospital had earned him a free trip back.

"Calm down. The more you react, the more you set off hormones for unhealthy responses." The nurse said.

"Can I talk to Tadashi?" Hiro asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're in too much pain."

"He's my brother and I've hurt him doing this. Please. I can't live with this." Hiro said, but the nurse frowned.

"No."

Hiro looked up, dejected. He slumped back against the pillow and shut his eyes, trying not to let anyone see the tears. "Tadashi, I'm sorry." He whispered. Hiro let the pain, distortion, and confusion crash down again and he passed out into a long and needed sleep. The nurse came by and smiled. She felt better seeing him at peace.

Aunt Cass woke up in the hospital lobby, her head slipping out of her hand, which had been resting under her jaw. Tadashi was next to her, dressed in his normal school clothes, snoring away. She hasn't gotten word from the doctors yet about Hiro's condition. She stood up, kissed Tadashi's forehead, and went to talk to the doctor. She walked into the room. The doctor looked up. "You can go in, but please, hold onto something, you might be shocked. You don't know the severity yet-"

Cass Hamada ignored him. She burst into the room. Hiro was sleeping peacefully. Aunt Cass looked at him. His left arm was wrapped up, the bandages hinting at blood. He was still dirty and wet, as they couldn't clean him up until they had diagnosed everything. Hiro's leg was bent awkwardly, and he had several bruises. Aunt Cass froze, taking in the sight, and dropped unconscious.


	4. Safe and Sound

**A/N: the story of going to get happier, so please don't die xD thank you all for your support and a special shout out to Steefwaterbutter for letting me know I messed up some stuff. I don't have an editor, as my sister hates my writing, my mom would not approve of this story, and my dad hates to read. Plus, my kindle fire has crappy autocorrect... okay here's the updated version, hope you enjoy!**

Tadashi was so tired he slept through everything "exciting". He didn't get to see Aunt Cass get dragged back to their temporary room, or Hiro roll out of bed and alert basically everyone on that floor of the hospital.

In fact, Tadashi slept for two straight days, which was exactly the amount of time they had been at the hospital. When he finally woke up, it was the middle of the day. Aunt Cass looked at him, amused.

"The dead lives." She smiled.

"I didn't die," Tadashi said, feeling slightly guilty at falling asleep and not being there for his brother. Hiro had always been there through thick and thin for Tadashi, and now when his brother needed him, he slept. "Is Hiro okay?"

"Define okay." Aunt Cass said, sitting down. She rested her head on Tadashi's shoulder. "I'm so worried for him. He could end up with some long term problems."

"Like what?"

"A guy hit him on the head with a metal chair."

"Holy carp."

"He also is literally covered in bruises," Aunt Cass said, sounding a bit like Tadashi's friend Fred. He said literally a lot.

"How do they know- Never mind, I don't want to know."

Aunt Cass blushed, laughing, embarrassed at her nephew's words.

Tadashi shuddered, bringing back the other subject. "So, he might have a concussion. I don't see any long term problems." Tadashi was still tired from just waking up and did not see the severity in his brother's plight. "He'll be fine."

"It's serious!" Aunt Cass jumped up. She had tears in her eyes, probably from stress and Tadashi's incomprehension. "Tadashi, he could've gone into a coma. You never take anything seriously!" Cass stormed out of the room, leaving Tadashi alone to bury his face in his hands and try not to cry.

"Oh mom, dad, I need you." Tadashi whispered. "Hiro needs you."

_My baby brother. _

Hiro was restless. He was bored, hungry, tired, and wanted to get up and run around in circles. This bed was cramped and boring. Tadashi walked in the door, his eyes dark from the weeks before he had spent not sleeping. His extremely long cat nap had benefited him immensely.

"Dashi!" Hiro tried to jump up but only succeeded in shaking the bed.

"Hiro, oh my gosh." Tadashi said, pulling his little brother into his arms. Hiro's hair was washed and slightly damp. His arm was wrapped tightly in a bunch of gauze, while the opposite leg was in a hard cast. Hiro was extremely bruised, and whenever he breathed, the boy would flinch.

_Probably a broken rib,_ Tadashi thought. His anger towards those thugs multiplied. Hiro just sat there, enfolded in Tadashi's arms, leaning up against his brother's warm chest, just being- forgetting everything.

Reality jarred him as he took in a shaky breath, his rib moving, his side exploding in unnatural pain. A single tear rolled down his face. Tadashi sat down on the bed. Hiro sat and poured his soul out into the front of Tadashi's sweater. He poured out last year, the bot fight, and now his return to the hospital.

"Ssh, it's all over, you're okay Hiro, look at me." Hiro raised his tear streaked face to look at his brother. " It's all over. You're safe."

"Safe." Hiro whispered, and smiled for the first time in three days.

That night, they let Tadashi sleep in the chair next to Hiro's bed. In the middle of the night, Hiro woke up, screaming from his nightmare. Tadashi woke up too, startled. Hiro then burst into tears.

"Hiro, calm down, it's just a dream..." Tadashi said. He got up and sat in the bed, lifting Hiro up into his lap. Hiro shrank into a ball, trying to disappear, be one with the atmosphere.

Tadashi lightly brushed the tears of Hiro's face. "Tadashi?" Hiro asked, looking like he was the again, lying in Aunt Cass' arms after their parents died.

"Yes, bonehead?"

Hiro smiled slightly at the nickname, but then dissolved back into misery. " Can you sing for me?"

Holy crap. Tadashi thought. His voice sounded like a cat getting hit by a truck, but he opened his mouth.

"I remember tears streamin' down your face

When I said I'd never let you go,

When all those shadows almost killed your light

I remember you said 'don't leave me here alone'

But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight"

_Those stupid bot-fighters... nearly killed my baby brother..._

"Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You'll be alright

No one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be safe and sound"

_You're safe Hiro._

"Don't you dare look out your window

Darlin' everything's on fire

The war outside our door keeps raging on

Hold onto this lullaby

Even when the music's gone

Gone-"

_You'll be fine, you're recovering, right?_

"Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You'll be alright

No one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be safe and sound"

_Don't leave me please_

"Ooh, ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

Ooh, ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Just close your eyes

You'll be alright

Come morning light,

You and I'll be safe and sound

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,

Ooh, ooh, ooh

Oohhh."

_We're safe, our family bond. We are brothers._

**A/N: "Safe and Sound" belongs to Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars. I thought this would be a good song for Tadashi to sing to Hiro =) hope the updates err okay!**


End file.
